Russia ‘ready for’ new Cold War
Russian President Dimitry Medvedev appeared to set Russia on course for a new Cold War with the West yesterday, when he signed a decree recognising independence of Georgia's breakaway provinces South Ossetia and Abkhazia. "We are not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a Cold War," he said, signalling... [continued]
A symphony for Tskhinvali 
In pictures: the Russian-Georgian war
Peregrine Worsthorne: real guts are needed to deal with Putin's Russia
Clinton: ‘Obama must be President’
Hillary Clinton has urged her supporters to rally behind Barack Obama, after a rousing speech at the Democratic national convention in Denver. During her 25-minute speech Clinton, who was given a three-minute standing ovation as she took the stage, called for unity among the Democrats. "Barack Obama is my candidate.... [continued]
Alexander Cockburn: Obama loses momentum in awful August
In pictures: scenes from the Democratic convention
US Election: Hillary does her best - but is it enough?
60 Afghan children die in air strike
Sixty children were among those killed in air strikes led by US-led coalition warplanes in western Afghanistan last week, a UN investigation has concluded. Around 90 civilians lost their lives in what is likely to be the worst incident involving civilians since 2001. Investigators from the UN Assistance Mission in... [continued]
Afghan air war loses sight of real enemy
Fourth arrest in ‘plot to kill PM’
A fourth man has been arrested in connection with an alleged plot to kill Prime Minister Gordon Brown. A police spokeswoman said a 25-year-old Blackburn man, who is believed to be white, was taken into custody by Lancashire Constabulary and Greater Manchester Counter Terrorism Unit as part of a probe... [continued]
Mugabe jeered as parliament opens
Robert Mugabe was jeered and booed by opposition MPs as he opened Zimbabwe's parliament yesterday, an unprecendented humiliation for the president during his 30-minute speech. As the 84-year-old leader rode to the opening of parliament in a vintage Rolls-Royce accompanied by troops and a 21-gun salute, he was greeted with... [continued]
Zimbabwe Today: exclusive reports from Moses Moyo in Harare
Doubts over Zardari’s mental health
Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Benazir Bhutto and the man tipped to become President of Pakistan, has been diagnosed with crippling depression, leading to accusations by rivals that he is not fit for office. Zadari's lawyers presented the diagnoses, made by two New York psychiatrists last year, to the... [continued]
The Obamas
Michelle Obama knew exactly what was required of her, says Mary Dejevsky, and spoke in that peculiarly American tone of feisty demureness that convinces everyone and threatens no one. According to the convention, she is proof that an increasingly colour-blind America is ready for a black President. Well, I'm sorry to spoil the party in Denver, but I don't believe them. Right in the middle of the white middle class, an assumed superiority runs so deep it hardly needs to be articulated. Its silent invisibility is what makes it so dangerous to Mr Obama's presidential prospects. As with French supporters of the far-right National Front, Americans have learnt to keep their deepest prejudices to themselves. And the pollsters, however sophisticated their techniques, may never gauge the half of it. Mary Dejevsky The Independent
Full article: I'd love to think the US is ready for a black President
Denver: Hillary tries to help
It is interesting how the Americans, having rejected the British Constitution in 1776, now seem entranced by the idea of "a family on the throne", says Simon Heffer. Mrs Obama's speech was a pungent reminder of the differences that remain between our two cultures: any politician, or politician's spouse, who tried to push such a line in Britain would be laughed out of public life. There is an idealism, or at least a lack of cynicism, in American politics that will be incomprehensible to many in Britain. Family, and its use in politics to identify leaders with the led, is almost a taboo at home. But this is the politics of soap opera and the pursuit of ratings, driven largely by a cynical mass media. It is no proof of a man's fitness to govern a superpower. Simon Heffer Daily Telegraph
Full article: How could having a good 'story' make Obama a good president?
For decades Republicans have been branding Democratic candidates outsiders, says Jonathan Freedland. Again and again they do it and with breathtaking chutzpah. Who was it calling Gore and Kerry sons of privilege? Why it was George Walker Bush, the son of a president. Who now tries to pretend that the Obamas are rarefied snobs with no feel for the way most Americans live? That would be John McCain, who owns seven homes. The US media go along with all this. There is a starting assumption that Republicans are, by definition, solid, patriotic all-Americans. It is Democrats who have to prove themselves. Jonathan Freedland The Guardian
Full article: Obama will struggle to win as the real American. He has to do it on his terms
After China
To question the cost of the next Olympics is becoming unpatriotic, says Simon Jenkins. The essence of the nationalisation of sport is that it is war by other means, and therefore beyond financial discipline. It may be unfair to compare a velodrome or diving pool with a school or a hospital. But the costs of 2012 have passed all common sense. The best thing London can offer the world after Beijing is something truly different. It should show that an international sports festival does not have to be cloyingly chauvinist or stupefyingly expensive. That means scaling back on everything not central to sport. Simon Jenkins The Guardian
Full article: For 2012, the big winners are chauvinism and profligacy
Poor old Robert Mugabe, writes Martin Samuel. Do you know what that guy needs? An Olympics. Harare 2012, he really missed a trick there. A well-run Games and nothing else matters. Put on a show, throw up a couple of impressive buildings and the world is your friend. The most worrying legacy of the Beijing Games is that it has shown our ministers, civil servants and sports administrators what could be achieved, if we could only suspend personal freedom. Change is afoot. When an image of Myra Hindley was screened at the handover party, it at least showed that freedom of artistic expression is allowed here. Although maybe not for much longer. "Those responsible should be found and sacked," said a government spokesman. Or sent for re-education through labour, maybe. Martin Samuel The Times
Full article: China's apologists are wide-eyed and clueless
Is pushy good?
In 1996, a Labour politico called Andrew Adonis protested that, "securing places in popular church schools is an art form for the professional classes", writes Rowan Pelling. What a difference a decade makes. On Sunday Lord Adonis, schools minister, said: "I want every parent to be a pushy parent. It is a jolly good thing." What has happened under this Government is that when ambitious parents have bolted for enclaves of academic excellence, children from less motivated backgrounds have been left ever further behind. And for all the vote-winning exhortations to parents to enjoy a guilt-free sprint for the golden prizes, nobody's found a convincing rescue package for the illiterate stragglers in our educational ghettoes. Rowan Pelling Daily Telegraph
Full article: Suddenly it's the rage to be pushy
In Brief
American tragedies
The narrative of presidential assassination has become deeply embedded in American culture, the most grimly familiar story in American history. It is so familiar, so often rehearsed, that someone will always be angry or mad enough to try to write another dreadful chapter.
Ben Macintyre The Times
Full article: Assassination: the most grimly familiar tale in US history
Carol is helping
I hesitate to nominate Lady Thatcher as a poster-girl for dementia. I accept that the illness prevents her from sanctioning publicity related to it. But her daughter has not betrayed her. Instead, she is offering a insight into the realities of a devastating disease that will have struck a chord with millions of sufferers and their carers. Liz Hunt Daily Telegraph
Full article: Carol did not betray Lady Thatcher
Bogus boldness
Media men like Jeremy Paxman are always 'saying the unsayable'. I am beginning to think they're all members of some secret dining club - you know, the posh ones, where you have to perform tasks. In their 20s, they had to do drinking games; for their 30s and 40s, they had to bestride the media; now they have to Say the Unsayable. Zoe Williams The Guardian
Full article: Saying the unsayable
Don’t out the dead
Cardinal Newman had his faults but he doesn't deserve to be championed by Peter Tatchell. Outing historical figures as gay, unless there is pretty clear evidence, strikes me as an outrageous liberty. Especially when the man in question would have regarded gay sex as an abomination. Melanie McDonagh The Times
Full article: Let Cardinal Newman's sexuality stay buried
Oh, man!
Should the use of 'man' for 'humanity' be banned? What about Neil Armstrong's "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind." How would you like future schoolbooks to put that? "That's one small step for me; one giant leap for us"? Sounds more like The Two Ronnies. Christopher Howse Daily Telegraph
Full article: Razor-blading every last man in the book
New repeats
Every now and then someone comes along and says the golden age of TV is over. Those glorious days in the 70s, the days of Come Dancing and Dr Who and The Banana Splits is over and we will not see their like again. And then we see their likes again. Armando Ianucci The Independent
Full article: Television still depends on a good story well told
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